how many pairs

[farm41]

I'm not trying to get into breeding, just having a little fun. I'd like to know from people who are into breeding. How many pairs do you start with for a new project? And do you get them all from the same place? I mean, would they be brother and sister?

 

[Dirk]

Hi,

it depends on the price. When I have to pay f.e. for 1 female Papagei 25 Euro here in Germany, its very expensive and I really have to think about it. So in most cases I buy only 1 pair, sometimes 2.

Always looking for rare apisto, I have to buy the apisto from one family when I found some. Unfortunately - but I can do nothing against it.

Ciao
Dirk

 

[Neil]

I agree with Dirk. The price (and tankspace) is everything. If they are not too expensive, you can try to get a couple of pairs and have a better chance for breeding one. I usually try and keep one pair out of each spawn and get them breeding while the parents are still going. that way, if i have problems with one or the other, I have a back-up. Plus, many times you can select the fish with the best qualities out of a particular spawn to get better and better looking representatives of a species. At some point there will be a decay in the gene pool and you will have to start over or "infuse" new blood into the mix.
Often you only have sibblings to work with and that is fine for awhile, but you should always keep you eyes open for new individuals to breed into your line, if your goal is to keep that species or form around for a long time. That is pretty much what i have been doing for several years now. I started with sibbling. Liked the fish a lot. Kept them and eventually find different individuals to breed into the line so i can maintain that species indefinitely. I currently have about 15 species that have been with me (uninterupted) for 2 years or more. Almost all of them have new genes somewhere along the way. Selective breeding, along with the addition of new fish (sometimes wild, sometimes others stock), can provide a stable and exceptionally nice line of fish.
Neil

 

[farm41]

thank you both for the replies